Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Posted by on Jun 9th, 2022

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR – Get Rating) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the ten research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $73.00.

A number of equities analysts have commented on SR shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on Spire from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 25th. TheStreet upgraded Spire from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Monday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 19th. Zacks Investment Research lowered Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, April 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 11th.

In related news, EVP Steven P. Rasche bought 1,703 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $24.09 per share, with a total value of $41,025.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $228,855. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 2,211 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.35, for a total value of $164,387.85. Following the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 1,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $98,662.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.97% of the company’s stock.

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SR. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Spire by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 17,278 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,127,000 after acquiring an additional 3,423 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,020,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Spire by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 7,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. Dixon Hughes Goodman Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth about $132,000. Finally, CWM LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth about $1,601,000. 84.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $77.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Spire has a 1-year low of $59.60 and a 1-year high of $79.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $75.75 and its 200-day moving average is $68.86.

Spire (NYSE:SR – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $880.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $849.50 million. Spire had a return on equity of 9.59% and a net margin of 10.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.71 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Spire will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 5th. Investors of record on Friday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.685 per share. This represents a $2.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 9th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.65%.

About Spire (Get Rating)

Spire Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the purchase, retail distribution, and sale of natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial, and other end-users of natural gas in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Gas Utility and Gas Marketing. It is also involved in the marketing of natural gas.

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Analyst Recommendations for Spire (NYSE:SR)

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